Forging Policy for LGBT Youth: Schools as Sites of Activism and Resistance
Presenters:
Gerald Walton, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay
Natalie Rowlands, Master's Student, Faculty of Education, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay
Most LGBT youth are not safe in schools. Results of the first national survey of Canadian high school students were released earlier this year. Corroborating previous studies, this survey clearly indicates that the emotional, mental, and physical health of LGBT youth (and those so perceived) are routinely subject to risk, as is their educational success. Other identities that intersect with sexual orientation and gender identities may compound such risk. LGBT students of colour, for instance, may be harassed and bullied because of their sexual orientation identity and/ or gender expression combined with their racialized identity. Geographical context may also play a key role in exacerbating risk. For instance, conservative social values and lack of privacy typically characterize rural areas, making it more difficult for LGBT students to be recognized and validated than those in suburban or urban areas. Despite an abundance of evidence that most LGBT youth are subjected to harm while at school, most school boards across the country have failed to specifically recognize, identify, and name the problems of homophobia and heterosexism in policy, much less do anything about them.
